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Can You Get Hot in 30 Days? By Lisa Daily | 15-01-2008 http://click.lavalife.com

One morning, I glanced in the mirror and realized I looked like hell.

For most of my life, I've been a reasonably attractive person without putting much thought into it. I've always had nice hair, decent skin, good teeth. I'm tall and reasonably fit without worrying about what I eat.

But in the middle of a junk food diet, haphazard skincare and constant work deadlines, I'd apparently misplaced my looks.

The gradual decline snuck up on me so slowly that I didn't even notice until it was almost too late. I dragged myself over to the television studio to do my weekly dating segment, feeling frumpy, and who do I meet in the green room but Teresa Tapp, a 50-year-old fitness guru who, at nearly 15 years my senior, looks waaaaay better than I do. Better body. Better skin. But Teresa tells me that my body can look just like hers in 15 minutes a day.

I'm sold and ready for the Beauty Boot Camp Experiment.

I figure if I'm going to do an all-out overhaul on my body, I might as well try to improve the rest of me as well. And thus, the 30-day Beauty Boot Camp was born. I decided I'd try any diet, any regimen, any product that promised results in 30 days.

Here is my story.

Lisa's Beauty Boot Camp Blog

Day 1

I'm kicking off my Beauty Boot Camp (BBC) with a new diet and a new exercise routine: First, the Man-Made/God-Made diet (on the GM days you can only eat natural foods, on the MM days you can eat whatever crap you want.) This will be my second-toughest challenge, since I've never been on a diet before in my life.

My biggest challenge is that I'm going to give up Coke, known around my house as "the fluid of life." This is something I've tried many times before and failed at. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Exercise experts tell me that I don't drink enough water (now there's a news flash) which is necessary to help your body get rid of fat. To figure out how much you need, you should divide your weight in half and drink that number of ounces of water per day. So a 100-pound person needs 50 ounces or 1.5 litres of water. My number works out to about 4.25 bottles of water per day, so I decide to round up and drink five bottles a day.

And just like Granny, I'll also be soaking in Epsom salt baths three times a week. Apparently Epsom salts are nature's Prozac: relieving stress (which is believed to cause belly fat) and helping to increase serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain. My logic here is that if I can increase my serotonin levels in the bathtub, I won't have to eat a massive bag of M&Ms to make it through the afternoon. We'll see.

Finally, I'll be taking Alfalfa supplements and using a technique called skin brushing to help keep myself cellulite-free. The skin brushing takes about seven minutes from toe to head, and I'm surprised to find it quite relaxing.

7:32 pm: So far so good on the MM/GM eating plan, but I must speed-drink another 3 bottles of water to make my quota for the day.

Have discovered that iced green tea is a suitable substitute for Coke caffeine-wise but I still miss the sugar.

10:52 pm I REALLY miss the sugar. Must go to bed, or I won't get my 8.5 hours of sleep. I may not anyway, since speed-drinking five bottles of water has me in need of a potty break every 15 minutes. Note to self: try to drink water a little earlier in the day...

Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 8 hours
Water: Approximately 80 oz.
Green Tea: 2 cups
Skin Brushing
Exercise: T-Tapp Basic Program (15 minutes), 30-minute walk
Epsom salts bath: 40 minutes
Day 2

Did the T-Tapp Primary Back Stretch before my walk today (a regular activity for me before I write -- helps get me focused) and when I got back home I was sweating like a pig. T-Tapp claims the stretch gets you burning fat in half the time. I'm not sure if it's that or the 87 gallons of water I drank yesterday.

Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 7.5 hours
Water: Approximately 75 oz.
Green Tea: 3 cups
Skin Brushing
Exercise: T-Tapp Basic Program (15 minutes), 45-minute walk
Epsom salts bath: 40 minutes
Day 3

After a run-in with the yard man, I ate a S'more (marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker, like at camp...) So I've blown my GM food day. Will try to behave the rest of the day. I'm shocked at how much more water I drink if I just open a bottle and set it next to my computer.

Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 7 hours
Water: Approximately 80 oz.
Green Tea: 3 Cups
Skin Brushing
Exercise: T-Tapp Basic Program (15 minutes)
Epsom salts bath: 20 minutes

Day three without Coke -- a miracle, I think. Who knew? I saw my trainer today (who has known me for a year) and she said she's never seen my skin look so fantastic. Amazing, since I won't start the skincare routine until tonight. Must be all the water.

Holy Smokes! A miracle has happened. The forehead crinkles I've had since I was 20 are disappearing. A visible difference. The fountain of youth? It's plain 'ol water, people.

Day 4

My Man-Made/God-Made food plan is failing miserably. Correction: I am failing miserably. By three in the afternoon I am craving chocolate. My revised GM/MM plan is to be au natural for breakfast and lunch, eat what I want for dinner but no fast food and no Coke for the entire 30 days. I have never gone 30 whole days without Coke before -- my longest record is two weeks.

I tried the Susan Lucci Youthful Essence Skincare this evening -- basically it's a microdermabrasion kit for the masses. There's a cleanser (which smells a little like baby shampoo), a resurfacing cream (sort of a gritty, sandy cream) and a vibrating thing with a variety of attachments -- like a soft brush and a sponge. After using it, my face feels pretty dry, but also very soft. It looks very pink, like a sunburn. The vibrating thing does not rotate, it just vibrates. I use the tool as directed, but I'm not quite sure what its purpose is.

Afterwards, I try Perricone Prescription skin care. It is a five-step process in the morning, four steps at night. It feels like a lot of work but hey, beauty is pain.

I also go to bed with a product called Frownies, which have been used by wrinkle-free starlets since the 1930s. Rene Russo swears by them (At $19 a box, this may be the beauty find of the century). Basically, you spread your forehead wrinkles apart with your fingers and stick on a skin-colored piece of tape to let your skin relax as you sleep.

Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 8 hours
Water: Approximately 80 oz.
Green Tea: 3 Cups
Skin Brushing
Exercise: T-Tapp Basic Program part 2 (30 minutes), 40-minute walk
Skin care:

1. Youthful Essence Cleansing/Resurfacing
2. Perricone Cleanser/Eye Treatment/Moisturizer (overnight treatment)
3. Frownies pads between eyebrows, on forehead, near eyes (overnight treatment)

Day 5

I have a headache today, which is usually the first thing that makes me reach for a Coke. I am having green tea (iced) instead, with some cinnamon. According to anti-aging guru Dr. Perricone, cinnamon stabilizes your blood sugar. Hoping this will work -- I am starting to crave a nice Coca-Cola.

4 pm and headache is still going strong. Are chocolate chips the answer? Still avoiding Coke -- how much longer can I stand it?

Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 8 hours
Water: Approximately 80 oz.
Green Tea: 3 Cups
Skin Brushing
Exercise: T-Tapp Basic Program part 2 (30 minutes), 40-minute walk
Skin care:

1. Perricone Cleanser/Eye Treatment/Moisturizer (overnight treatment)
3. Frownies pads between eyebrows, on forehead, near eyes (overnight treatment)

Day 6

Managed to survive through the night without a Coke.

Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 8 hours
Water: Approximately 80 oz.
Green Tea: 2 Cups
Skin Brushing
Exercise: T-Tapp Basic Program (15 minutes)
Skin care:

1. Perricone Cleanser/Eye Treatment/Moisturizer (overnight treatment)
2. Frownies pads between eyebrows, on forehead, near eyes (overnight treatment)

Day 8 Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 8 hours
Water: Approximately 80 oz.
Green Tea: 2 Cups
Exercise: :20 minute walk, no T-Tapp. I meant to do it, but the day just got away from me.
Epsom Salt bath: 20 minutes
Skin care:

1. Perricone Cleanser/Eye Treatment/Moisturizer (overnight treatment)
2. Frownies pads between eyebrows, on forehead, near eyes (overnight treatment)
Day 9

I am on deadline for my new book Fifteen Minutes of Shame this month and my column today, and it's starting to hit me that my Beauty Boot Camp is sucking about an hour and 45 minutes out of my day. Every day. How do people do this? How do supermodels even have time to work?

In looking at my blog, I see I've not been getting nearly as much sleep as I'd hoped. Studies show that for every extra hour of sleep you get, you eat 100 fewer calories (apparently because you see fewer late-night TV ads for food). As I'm reading this, I see a hamburger ad pop up on TV which gives me a craving for fries. (So far, so good, no fast food since this has started.) Maybe the solution isn't more sleep, but less TV? This week will be sort of crazy but I'm hoping I can get back on track sleep-wise by the weekend.

Today's Treatments:
Amount of sleep: 7 hours
Water: Approximately 80 oz.
Green Tea: 2 Cups
Skin Brushing
Exercise: :30 minute walk, :15 minute T-Tapp Workout
Skin care:
1. Perricone Cleanser/Eye Treatment/Moisturizer (overnight treatment)
2. Frownies pads between eyebrows, on forehead, near eyes (overnight treatment)